This article explains the difference between refundable and non-refundable tax credits with illustrative charts.
Latest Blog Posts
Low-Minimum Index Funds and Commission-Free ETFs for Small Investors
The deal for small investors is getting better. If someone wants to invest in index funds and ETFs with very low cost, Vanguard is no longer the only choice. Competition is really good for customers. Schwab has 5 index funds that require only $100 minimum initial investment. The lineup is not as extensive as Vanguard’s, […]
Spending Other People’s Money
Someone bumped into my car in a parking lot but wasn’t decent enough to leave a note. The hood of my car was damaged. I went to two reputable body shops. One quoted $850; the other quoted $740. As body work goes, it’s a small job. Because the bill isn’t much more than my deductible, […]
Why Is ACH Slower At Some Places Than Others?
ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. It’s low-cost method to move money from one account to another. When you have payroll direct deposit, it’s done by ACH. When you give your bank account to an insurance company for automatic monthly payments, it’s done by ACH. When you transfer money from a checking account to an […]
The Origin of Solo 401k
Solo 401k was made possible when employee’s contributions didn’t have to be counted in the maximum tax deduction by the employer.
No Sugar Coating Please: It Was a Lost Decade
Happy New Year! With the first decade in the new millennium having come to the end, there’s a lot of retrospection in the media. What happened? What should’ve happened but didn’t? In the investing world, some say the decade was a “lost decade” and some apologists say how it wasn’t. I read articles from both […]
529 Plans: Age-Based Options Don’t Make Sense
A new-born niece came into my extended family recently. I got the task for looking into setting up a college education fund for her. I know about 529 plans. Every state has at least one plan. Some states have several plans. I quickly identified Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 plan as the best plan for my niece. […]
Conventional Wisdom "Don’t Buy a Dividend" Is Wrong
I mentioned this last year in my post 3 Reminders About Year-End Mutual Fund Distributions. I see the conventional wisdom “don’t buy a distribution” is still going strong. Vanguard reiterated this conventional wisdom in its blog post The record date: Not a tune you can dance to in early December. But the conventional wisdom is […]
Money Is Fungible
Money can be moved from one purpose to another. It doesn’t remember where it came from.
Grace Period and Double-Cycle Billing
Twitter brought my attention to an article on SmartMoney (link no long working). It’s another “banks are out there to get you” article. It alleges that some banks are exploiting a loophole in the “CARD Act” for double-cycle billing. I’m sorry to say that the journalist was misled by her sources. Whoever fed her the story […]